translation by mourningmoor
Hanjoon pointed to the piercing.
“The friendship piercing that Ichan gave us. It feels like this protected us during the explosion accident, maybe it’s some kind of defense…”
As Hanjoon hesitated, unable to find the right word, Jaewon quickly continued.
“Defense magic?”
“Yeah. Maybe something like that was applied to it?”
The word “magic” still felt awkward to say out loud, but it was the most plausible guess.
“Yoo Noah sunbaenim tried all sorts of things, but none of them affected us. If all four of us are like that, the only common factor is this. The friendship piercing that Ichan gave us.”
Roa nodded in agreement with Hanjoon’s words.
“I think so too. Director Kim Chanyeong also went down to the countryside during that time and hasn’t come back, so it seems like he remembers something. He must have been doing something that hyungnim gave him, right?”
“Maybe?”
Jaewon, who had been quietly listening to the hyungs’ conversation, asked.
“So what are we going to do now? Are you going to talk to Ichan-hyung today?”
The practice room fell silent again.
This wasn’t an easy matter.
What does Ichan want? Or rather, does Ichan even remember everything?
What if he lost his memories while crossing through that dimensional gate, the gate to another world? Would bringing it up unnecessarily complicate things? It was a dilemma.
“What do you think we should do?”
Then, Siu quietly replied.
“I think we should tell Ichan. Let him know that we know. That way, Ichan might feel more at ease.”
“What if Ichan doesn’t want to reveal it?”
That was the biggest problem.
If Ichan doesn’t want to reveal his true identity, then all this worrying is pointless.
“…Then we’ll just have to pretend we don’t know.”
Siu answered sullenly.
Following suit, the maknae and Roa also became sullen.
“I like that Ichan-hyung is a magician. It’s cool.”
“Me too. It’s so like him, and I like it.”
“Right. Ichan has always been special from the start.”
Hanjoon felt the same way.
It was then.
All four of their phones buzzed simultaneously with a message notification.
“Huh? It’s from Ichan?”
Ichan had sent a message in the group chat.
Come to the dorm right now.
Before I lose my memories.
After reading the message, the members exchanged shocked glances. Then, without a second thought, they rushed out of the practice room.
* * *
Time really flew by.
“Ichan-hyung.”
It was already November, and more than a month had passed since the Seoul concert.
“Hyung.”
By then, the dorm had undergone quite a few changes.
The biggest change was that we had moved to a new dorm.
PD Pyo had moved us to a dorm with five rooms, allowing each of us to have our own room. The security was extremely tight, and the facilities were great.
The kitchen was huge, and the living room was spacious. To exaggerate a bit, you could almost play soccer in the dorm.
According to PD Pyo, our dorm was even better than his own house.
It was a sign of how much our status had risen.
Naturally, our way of living had changed too.
“Ah, hyung!”
When I didn’t respond, Jaewon, stomping his feet, came into the kitchen.
I was making detox juice with a blender and looked at Jaewon.
“What?”
“Take me with you.”
I handed him the freshly made detox juice. Without any hesitation, Jaewon took the juice and drank it, then continued.
“I have the college entrance exam today. If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late.”
Hanjoon, who was cutting fruit next to me, scolded him.
“Don’t you think this is cheating? Other kids wake up early to take the bus or subway…”
“What are you talking about? Ichan-hyung’s very existence is cheating.”
Jaewon cut off Hanjoon’s words and looked at me pleadingly.
“Hyung. Please. Huh?”
Jaewon’s eyes drooped pitifully, and he blinked like a doll, even throwing in some aegyo. When he does this, I have no choice but to give in.
“Just this once.”
Then, he cheered, “Yes!” and tightened his backpack. Hanjoon handed him a lunchbox.
“Take this. It’s beef and vegetable porridge, your favorite.”
“No way. Did Jun-hyung make this?”
“I didn’t make it, but I packed it.”
Then, like a mother, he started nagging again.
“Don’t eat it too quickly, or you’ll get indigestion. Don’t fall asleep during the English test. Don’t mess up the other subjects just because you messed up Korean. And most importantly, guess well.”
After rambling for a while, he looked at me and asked, “What else?”
I shrugged, holding up both palms.
It’s the college entrance exam. What do I know to help?
Jaewon naturally said.
“What does hyung know? He didn’t even take the exam.”
Then he said he’d do everything well on his own, so not to worry.
After dropping Jaewon off at the exam site, I had to go to Siu’s drama filming location.
I had planned to send a coffee truck today, which was one of the items on my bucket list.
Siu had established himself as a pretty impressive acting idol.
He still felt embarrassed by compliments and would always wave his hand and say the same thing whenever his acting was praised.
[I’ve done it a few times, so it’s like this. I tried it before you came back. Back then, it was completely amateurish.]
Yoon Siu’s amateur acting. I’m curious.
Hanjoon showed exceptional talent as a radio DJ. But this guy also said the same thing. That it’s because he’s experienced that he’s good.
When I expressed my amazement, Roa said something.
“Hyungnim. During the year you were gone, all four of us worked incredibly hard.”
They wanted to have something to show off when I returned, no matter when that would be. They didn’t want to be an embarrassment, so they worked hard. They didn’t want to be people who stayed in the same place.
“Even though hyungnim was erased, as the person you risked your life to protect, we wanted to do something. We thought you’d be happy.”
“I am happy. Truly.”
I had hoped these kids didn’t have a hard year.
I was worried that, like Kim Chanyeong, who had given up everything and gone to the countryside, these kids might have given up on being idols.
But as expected, our kids were different.
In fact, it seemed like they had lived that year more fully than anyone else.
They had become much more mature and much cooler.
Even Jaewon had studied hard for the college entrance exam and was now challenging himself to get into university.
The one who had the hardest time during the past year was, surprisingly, the Demon King?
“Don’t even mention it. That hyungnim really plays with people.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Do you know how many times the world’s memories were reset over the past year?”
It was unexpected.
At first, I was completely erased. It was as if I had died three years ago and never debuted.
Then suddenly, I was made to have died in the POP-UP store explosion accident, and then quickly changed to having died in a lighting accident during my debut.
Erased, then recreated, over and over.
Watching the memories of those around me change so many times made me feel nauseous.
“That just shows how hard Yoo Noah sunbaenim worked, right? To him, hyungnim was the only person from his hometown.”
That’s why even the Demon King couldn’t reject him anymore.
Of course, they were still bound by a subordinate relationship, so they couldn’t be completely separated.
“But when you come back from your trip, please say something to him. Tell Yoo Noah sunbaenim that because of him, the four of us, no, even Director Kim Chanyeong, suffered too much.”
Right now, the Demon King is traveling the world with Yoo Noah.
He said he’d be back early next year, so I’ll have to have a serious talk with him then.
“Alright. I will.”
Somehow, my heart felt heavy.
* * *
The first Saturday of December.
The Pumpkin Music Awards were held at Gocheok Sky Dome.
As usual, Kim Hyunsoo was the MC this year.
Countless people gathered for the pre-event, the red carpet event.
As LIT, dressed in a black suit and black tie, neatly dressed in a suit, stepped onto the red carpet, a deafening cheer erupted.
Amidst the blinding flashes of cameras, LIT waved their hand.
Having gone through a lot, all five of them seemed very mature. And it felt like they had grown a step further.
Well, maybe two steps?
First, there were many incidents and accidents, but the overseas tour was a huge success.
The final stop of the tour, the Seoul concert, was absolutely chaotic.
Even though they couldn’t get tickets, foreign Filaments entered Korea and formed a massive crowd around Gocheok Sky Dome.
And as if to prove their popularity, the mini-album they released last week was also a huge hit.
At today’s awards ceremony, the first of its kind this year, they were aiming not only for ‘TOP 10’ but also for ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Artist of the Year.’
Most media outlets predicted that LIT would win ‘Artist of the Year,’ so the result was pretty much decided.
Anyway, in such a short time, LIT had become a huge star and shook the air as they entered the awards ceremony.
Fans who heard that LIT had just entered also hurried their steps.
Juhee, Inyoung, Yoojung, Mina, and Irene were no different.
The five fans gathered in the lobby placed their hands together and cheered.
“If they win the grand prize today, Leader Kang might cry, don’t you think?”
“I bet my hand that he’ll cry.”
“Okay, then let’s each try to get a good shot of his tears.”
“Okay. Sounds good.”
“Fighting!”
With a solemn resolve, the five fans scattered to their respective seats in the venue.
They sincerely hoped that today would be a memorable day for LIT.